SEGA Start Mega Drive for Digital Content
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Games company continues reinvention within the gaming industry.
SEGA has entered “chapter two” of its reinvention in the video games market by switching its focus away from traditional console games to new downloadable content (DLC) and digital games online.
Online gaming is diversifying extremely quickly, from massive online realms like World of Warcraft to simple but hugely popular Facebook games like FarmVille and a raft of innovation in between. SEGA hopes to carve a new niche for itself in the digital platforms, moving away from the conventional console platforms on which SEGA built their reputation.
SEGA has already invested in digital games and DLC with the formation of its new Digital Division based in San Francisco. “SEGA has already enjoyed commercial success within this new and exciting gaming medium and it is now the company’s intention to fully embrace change and set a strategy not only to maximize revenues within the digital space but, through innovation and quality, take up a leadership position,” president Mike Hayes revealed to 1UP.
SEGA’s downfall in the video games market began around the fifth generation of consoles of the 32 bit era. Having been the main rival to Nintendo in the fourth generation wars between the SNES and Genesis (Mega Drive) the competition changed dramatically with fifth gen consoles as the first PlayStation outclassed SEGA’s Saturn console.
By the time the sixth generation of consoles came around, Sony was the new big boy in town, and the PS2 became one of the most successful consoles of all time. Meanwhile, Nintendo plodded along with the GameCube, and Microsoft entered the fray with the Xbox; squeezing SEGA out of the market when the dismal Dreamcast dramatically flopped.
The company was forced to reinvent itself by becoming a multi-platform publisher and continuing to cash in on the Sonic franchise which had for so long been the iconic figurehead of SEGA. Mr Hayes described the next evolution of SEGA’s development as “chapter two” as it fully embraced the digital market.
“It’s new, it provides new outlets for us. We can do different things in terms of gaming experiences, which is interesting for us. So in a way it’s sort of a part of the ongoing rebirth of SEGA as a multi-platform agnostic publisher of games.”
